


Another Man's Done Gone

by romans



Category: Doctor Who, Firefly
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-26
Updated: 2013-05-26
Packaged: 2017-12-13 02:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/818781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romans/pseuds/romans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A visit from the Doctor stirs some memories for Mal Reynolds.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Man's Done Gone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mm8](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mm8/gifts).



> For MM8, who requested Malcolm Reynolds meeting the Doctor.

It's a rattle and a thump and a metallic sound that he hasn't heard in twenty years that rouses Mal from a sound sleep in his bunk. At first he thinks it's a hangover from his dreams, but he's awake, and he left the lights on, and his gun is slung over the back of his chair, and there are clanking noises coming from the hold. It's probably Kaylee, but it can't hurt to be sure.

He grabs his gun and his pants and creeps up the ladder barefoot. Zoe is coming out of her room, too, sleep-tousled and armed. She shoots him a questioning look, and he jerks his head towards Jayne's room. She nods and goes to wake up Jayne and his guns.

The stranger turns out to be a tall man wearing a leather coat. He's standing next to a blue box, and even before he turns around Mal recognizes his ears.

"You!" he says, louder than he meant to, and the Doctor turns around to face him. He hasn't changed at all, which is almost as strange as the fact that he _snuck onto a moving ship_ , but Mal doesn't let that deter him. 

"What the _hell_ are you doing on my ship?" he asks. 

"Visitin'," the Doctor says, grinning at him. "Do I know you?"

"Yeah," Mal says. Jayne and Zoe are flanking him, now, and Wash is probably lurking somewhere with a gun. Kaylee is on night shift. She's probably in the engine room. He'll leave her there for now.

"Twenty years back," he says. He holsters his gun and feels Zoe relax behind him. "You came by Shadow and saved my ma's farm from being obliterated. She got on the wrong side of some loan sharks." 

"The Georgia system!" The man says. He looks flummoxed for a moment, and then his face brightens. "Malcolm! Little Malcolm! Look at you!" He looks like an avuncular uncle. 

"All grown up and flying on your own," he says. 

"All thanks to you," Mal says. He still remembers the Doctor taking him out into space. The memory is as clear as day, stars burning up in the vasty deeps of space, his mother's delighted face as she peered into the edge of space and grasped him by the hand. It had been magical. She'd always wanted to see the universe, but they'd never had the money to go anywhere.

Now Mal had seen more of the 'verse than he properly wanted to see, and he had the Doctor to thank for that.

"You were a real hero," he says, the words sour in his mouth.

The Doctor beams. 

"I guess that's why she brought me here," he says. "She wanted to catch up."

"Mal?" Zoe asks. 

"This is an old friend," Mal says.

"How'd he get on board?" Jayne asks. 

"He does that," Mal says. "And now he's gonna get off board."

"What?" the Doctor says. He sounds puzzled. 

" _Mal_ ," Zoe says again. It will never cease to amaze him how much she can pack into one little name. He turns around to face her.

"We're not exactly legal, here," he says quietly. "And he don't take kindly to criminality." 

Jayne snorts, and hoists Vera a little higher. 

"Now you can just get on back in your blue box and go visit some other unsuspectin' soul, Doctor." 

"Why?" the Doctor is frowning. "Mal, what happened?"

Mal bites back a bitter laugh. What happened? He'd been a noble gorramn idiot. That's what had happened. The Greater Good had happened. 

"You saved me," he says. "You showed me there was more to life than scratching a living and bowing to the Federation. You taught me right from wrong." A laugh escapes. "You showed me that the good guy always wins." 

The Doctor raises his eyebrows. 

"I fought because of you," Mal says. The Doctor's eyes widen.

"I fought because that's what you would have done, Doctor." Mal says. Zoe is radiating tension behind him, a coil of sadness and anger that never fails to get on his nerves. 

"We lost," he says. "So now here I am. Out on the raggedy edge of nothin', running for my life and fighting for my crew. I ain't go no home- you know, Shadow was destroyed in the war. All I've got is my ship and my life, and I got you to thank for that."

"Mal-" the Doctor says. 

"You _weren't there_ , Doctor," Mal interrupts. "You didn't lose shit. So I think you'd best be going." 

Kaylee gasps from behind him, but other than that the cargo bay is completely silent. The Doctor's face is shuttered and unreadable.

"You fought because of me?" he asks. 

"And now I'm flying," Mal says. The Doctor's face falls. 

"You'd better go," Zoe says. The Doctor gives them a desperately unhappy look, but he goes over to his magical box. He turns back just before he goes inside.

"I'm sorry," he says. 

When the door closes behind him, the soft click rebounds in Mal's mind like a steel door slamming shut, final and absolute. A little curl of wistfulness rises from somewhere deep inside of him, but he quashes it. 

The blue ship wavers a little, and then disappears into thin air. The only sign it was there at all are the dust motes swirling through the stillness. 

If he's lucky, he'll never see the bastard again. 

They're all awake, now. They might as well start gettin' on to Persephone.


End file.
